Treasure sure seem to have a golden touch for several genres of game. Platforming beat-em-up? Guardian Heroes. Platforming shoot-em-up? Gunstar Heroes. But they'll probably be more remembered one game genre. The side scrolling genre with the Saturn classic Radiant Silvergun. It's been 5 years since this pricey game was released but in 2003, the successor has been released and it's name? Ikaruga. So, have Treasure got a.... treasure on their hands or scurvy? Let's start this bad boy review.

Really the only thing you'll be saying is "ARGH, URGH, EEEH"

Gameplay

It's a 2d side scrolling shoot-em-up at heart but there is one gimmick in this that makes it a joy to play. The "black and white......thingie". Basically, with the press of the button, you can change the colour of your ship to black or white. And this is essential to survival and high scores. You can absorb the white bullets when the ship is white and black bullets when the ship is black. After absorbing, you can unleash powerful cannon blasts. But while you're shooting for survival, you gotta remember that you're aiming for a high score. This is where chains come in. Shoot 3 of the same colour ships and you get a chain. Continue doing this and you'll get a higher and higher score. It may seem confusing but surprising, it's a case of easy to pick up, ages to master. 9/10

Graphics

The last thing you want to do is admire the graphics in this intense game but in the god given few seconds of bliss, you can glance around the screen and look at the splendid graphics. Breathtaking. Then the bullets, explosions, waves of enemies give you a slap in your face. 9/10

Music/Sound

The music sounds orchestric and it's very fitting to the game but the sounds of the explosions could actually sound a bit more beefier. 7/10

Replay Value

Really, it's not a big game as there's only 5 levels and once you unlock everything, the only thing that you've got left is improving your scores. 2 player mode is a laugh as long as you don't care about the score. 7/10

Overall:

8/10. While this game isn't the best shoot-em-up, there are more better ones but that doesn't mean that you should ignore this when you find it in a bargain bin. In fact, it's a crime.